


Flight

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:27:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22519990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex is afraid of flying, and Jack helps him through a flight.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Flight

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request, and takes place when they were in high school!

“I can’t believe that Rian and Zack couldn’t come on this trip, it’s going to be so fun! We get to spend our entire spring break on the beach in Florida with our classmates! I thought we could only do this when we’re seniors, so I can’t believe we’re getting to do this now!” Jack exclaimed as he walked behind a group of their classmates with Alex to their gate in the airport.  
“Yeah, um, it’ll be great,” Alex replied with a forced smile. Jack could tell that something was off with his friend, and right when he was going to ask what that was, they reached their gate, the teacher running the trip started talking to the group.  
“Okay guys, we should be able to start boarding in about fifteen minutes, so let’s sit tight on that row of chairs until it’s time,” she explained. Their school did spring break trips every year, and this was a huge motivator for Jack to actually try in school; in order to be eligible to go, the students had to have decent grades and attendance.   
Due to this, Jack made his sophomore year the first year he really tried in school and was more than happy when his hard work paid off, and he learned that he was allowed to go on the trip. He really wanted to go with all of his friends, but Rian and Zack couldn’t go due to financial reasons, so Alex convinced his parents to let him go, so Jack wouldn’t have to go alone.  
“This is so awesome! Hey, if the band takes off, I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be spending a lot of time flying from place to place!” Jack stated with a smile. Alex could feel himself tense up a bit when Jack said this but tried his best to hide it.  
“Yeah, won’t that be awesome?” Alex replied, trying his best to sound enthusiastic.  
“You don’t sound too excited, are you okay?” Jack asked, starting to feel concerned for his friend.  
“Oh, I’m fine, I, um, I just didn’t sleep last night, I was too excited about the trip!” Alex tried.  
“Well, I’m glad you’re excited, but tell me if there’s something bothering you, okay?” Jack requested.  
“Absolutely. Hey, let’s stop talking and just people watch for a bit,” Alex suggested, quickly turning away from Jack as he started to blankly stare off into the airport.   
Jack knew that something wasn’t right with Alex, but he also knew that prying would more than likely make whatever was up worse, so he left it alone for now. He only hoped that Alex wouldn’t be like this in Florida, he’d been looking forward to this trip with his best friend for months now. Eventually, they heard a loud plane take off close to where their gate was, and Jack could’ve sworn that he saw Alex jump some.  
“Did you just jump at that plane taking off?” Jack asked.  
“Oh, no, I just had some great ideas for songs that I got excited about!” Alex exclaimed, though Jack could see right through this.  
“Alex, are you scared of planes?” Jack continued.  
“No, dude! Afraid of planes? Yeah, right,” Alex defensively replied. As Jack was about to ask another question, they were told that it was time to board the plane, so the whole group got up and stood in a line to get their boarding passes scanned. Alex went before Jack, and Jack could see Alex’s hand shaking as he handed the worker his boarding pass. After giving the worker a shaky ‘thank you’, Alex walked into the tunnel while he waited for Jack to get his pass scanned.   
When Jack walked into the tunnel, he saw that Alex had gone a bit pale, raising his concerns. They walked onto the plane and took their seats, shoving their carry ons under the seats in front of them. There were only two seats to a row, and Alex had taken the window seat, leaving Jack with the aisle seat.  
“Alright, we just have a little over two hours separating us from the beach! I hope we go to a good seafood place at some point on this trip!” Jack stated.  
“Yeah, that’d be really good,” Alex replied, his voice sounding like he was about to cry.  
“Dude, you sound upset, seriously, are you okay?” Jack asked, turning to look directly at his friend. Alex took a deep breath in an attempt to try and calm himself.  
“Yeah, I’m f-“ Alex cut himself off by gagging, and quickly put a hand to his mouth. Jack’s eyes widened in urgency, and he frantically searched through the pouch of the seat in front of him for the provided barf bag for his friend. Once he found it, he struggled to try and open it until Alex waved is hand, prompting Jack to stop fooling with the bag.  
“Alex, what’s going on? Are you sick?” Jack asked, putting the bag back where he found it.  
“No, I’m not. I have something to tell you, but it’s kind of lame, so please don’t laugh at me,” Alex requested.  
“I won’t make fun of you, dude,” Jack promised.  
“Okay, flying scares me, like, a lot,” Alex admitted, confirming Jack’s earlier suspicion.   
“Really? I’m surprised, doesn’t your entire family live overseas?” Jack asked.  
“Yeah, they do, I haven’t been back home to see them since we moved here because of this,” Alex explained.  
“What made you so afraid of flying? Assuming you don’t mind sharing,” Jack continued.  
“When we flew here to permanently move when I was a kid, it was a super long flight, like, six hours. The plane was super old, and shouldn’t have been in use, at least in my eight-year-old self’s opinion. There were a lot of clouds, so the flight was super bumpy, and I was sure that the plane was going to go down or something. I’ve refused to go on a plane ever since,” Alex explained.  
“Shit, I never knew about this, Alex. I wish I’d known; I wouldn’t have been so insistent on making you come on this trip,” Jack replied.  
“No, it’s okay. I was talking to my mom about all of this, and she thinks that this might be a good way for me to start getting over my fear, since it’s not too long of a flight, and because I’m not alone, I’ve got you with me. I’ll try to keep my cool so you don’t have to worry about dealing with me the whole time,” Alex replied.  
“I don’t mind helping you, man. If I had that experience as my first flight as a kid, I’d probably feel the same way you do about flying. But, this is a fairly short flight, so hopefully it won’t be too bad for you. Either way, I’m here for you, man,” Jack promised, making them both smile some.   
The pilot went over the loudspeaker to let the passengers know that the plane would be taking off in about five minutes, and Jack saw a nervous look appear on Alex’s face.  
“Hey, don’t stress, it’s going to be okay. Why don’t you look at something on your phone for now? You won’t be able to use it for a bit right after we take off,” Jack suggested.  
“I’ll do that, thanks, dude,” Alex said, pulling out his cell phone. Jack did the same, and five minutes later, the plane started to move. Alex slowly put away his phone and took a deep breath as he sat up some in his seat.  
“Are you doing okay?” Jack asked his friend.  
“I think so. I really don’t like this, but it doesn’t feel as scary as I remember it being when I was a kid,” Alex replied.  
“Hey, that’s good! This flight won’t be too bad, I’ve actually taken this same one before, my family and I took a vacation to the same beach one summer, and it was super fun!” Jack replied.  
“That’s definitely comforting to hear. I hope this flight knocks this fear out of me, I can only imagine how much flying we’ll be doing if the band actually gets somewhere. I don’t want to be afraid of getting on a plane if getting on a plane becomes part of my job,” Alex explained.  
“Well, while I don’t think you should assume that his flight will completely erase your fear, I think that it’ll at least be a good start, and a step in the right direction. Besides, when we become a wildly successful band, you won’t be concerned about flying, you’ll be too preoccupied with playing shows, exploring new places, and meeting our loving fans,” Jack explained.  
“Man, all of that sounds like a dream. Do you think we’ll make it??” Alex asked. Jack could tell that Alex was continuing this conversation to distract himself from the plane moving, and Jack was more than happy to talk with him to keep him sane.  
“Honestly, yeah, yeah I do. I think that if we put in the work and stay driven, we’ll accomplish a lot as a band. And, I think that you’ll end up writing some of the best lyrics ever, and that’ll help you to build a strong connection with our fans that the other three of us can’t really have. You’ll see, I promise, dude,” Jack said, making them both smile.  
“I hope all of that happens and works out. Especially the exploring part, I really want to explore different parts of the states,” Alex replied.  
“Me too, but we’ll go further than just America, dude,” Jack stated.  
“Really?” Alex asked.  
“Yeah, man! I bet that sometime within the next five years, we’ll travel abroad to play at least one show. We’re going to be international, dude!” Jack said with a smile.  
“That would seriously be so awesome! Hopefully I’ll feel better about flying by then,” Alex said with a laugh.  
“I’m sure you will. Hey, I just realized, you’re doing great so far! Usually, getting into the air is the scariest part, and you didn’t even really notice that!” Jack exclaimed, as Alex smiled some.  
“Thanks, man, I appreciate you being so nice and helpful about all of this,” Alex stated.  
“No problem, dude. Oh, the flight attendant is coming, we can get some drinks,” Jack said.  
“Hello boys, do you want some soda, juice, or water?” the attendant asked.  
“I’ll take a Coke, what do you want, Alex?” Jack asked his friend.  
“Water sounds good,” Alex replied. The attendant fixed their drinks, then went to the next row of passengers.  
“Did you really just get water when free soda was an option?” Jack asked, putting down his tray table.  
“I’ll get soda next time,” Alex decided, also putting down his tray table. As Alex went to take a sip of his drink, the plane started to hit some turbulence, making the ride a bit bumpy and shaky. This made Alex spill some of his water on himself, and it made all of his anxieties about flying come back. Alex slowly put his cup down and could feel his body start to tense up in fear.  
“Hey, don’t freak out, you’re okay, and the plane is okay,” Jack tried, putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder.   
“Jack, I’m scared again,” Alex said, sounding as frightened as he looked.  
“I know, but everything is okay, I promise,” Jack continued.  
“Jack, I think I need that barf bag now,” Alex said, wrapping an arm around his stomach. Jack grabbed the bag from the seat in front of him but set it on the tray table unopened.   
“I’m going to put this here for now. You can use it if you really need to, but I want to try to calm you down fist. I want you to sit all the way up,” Jack instructed.  
“Jack, I-“ Alex started.  
“Just give me a couple minutes, then I’ll let you use the bag if you still need it. Sit up,” Jack continued, as Alex sat all the way up.  
“Good. Now, close your eyes and take deep breaths. Think of your happy place, and put yourself in it,” Jack said. As Alex did this, Jack rubbed Alex’s back. After a few minutes, Jack could feel Alex’s breathing start to steady itself again.  
“Open your eyes, and drink some of this water. Small sips,” Jack said, handing Alex his cup.  
“How do you feel now?” Jack asked when Alex was done.  
“A lot better, actually. Thank you, Jack, I didn’t expect that to work,” Alex admitted.  
“Well, I’m glad that it did. If you get anxious again, we can do what we just did. I know that turbulence isn’t fun, but we’re okay, and I’ll spend the rest of this flight making sure that you’re alright,” Jack said, making Alex smile.  
“You’re the best, thank you, Jack,” Alex replied, drinking more water.  
“I try to be!” Jack exclaimed with a laugh. The rest of the flight was fairly uneventful, but Alex was still a bit nervous. Luckily, having Jack by his side made it so much better- the flight, and his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is a request for XxBlurryDiamondxX!! I'm sorry for getting this up so late, I've spent the majority of the day doing all of the school work I missed from last week, so I've spent the last 2.5 hours drafting, typing and editing this to get it up today!! I think that starting tomorrow, stories will go up mid day to early afternoon like usual, since I'll be back into my normal routine. Again, thank you for the patience this week, I appreciate it very much. I still have a few more requests to work on, but always feel free to send in ideas!! I hope you guys liked this story, thank you so much for reading, it really does mean a lot. Lots of love, Liv.


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